In The Spotlight
Is it possible to imagine a future for biocoal in the iron and steel industry? Over the past 15 years, the popularity of biocoal (commonly called charcoal) has been increasing at a rapid pace, with ten times more scientific articles being published about its production than ever before.
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If you’ve walked through a lot of paper mills you’ve probably seen a lot of waste heat emitted. Most paper mills try to recover some of this heat using heat exchangers.
In a previous blog article on textile fibres published in September 2022, I discussed the pros and cons of animal, vegetable and mineral (synthetic) fibres. But there’s more to the story!
Looking back over the last several years, the Canadian northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp industry has been on a roller coaster ride.
In my last blog contribution I described the series of large investments that forest industry companies are doing in Sweden and Finland.
In recent years there have been extensive closures of printing paper mills and large investments within the Swedish and Finnish paper and pulp groups. Overall, therefore, their product portfolios have undergone major changes as this blog contribution will show.
In addition to present heavy investment in the Swedish paper and pulp industry, new start-up companies are bubbling with different ideas regarding opportunities for new products and applications based on forest raw materials and industrial side streams.
In my last blog, I emphasized that Green Chemistry Principles provide useful, actionable ways to drive innovation strategies and accelerate transformation in the pulp and paper (P&P) industry. Here, I will focus on a facilitating technology in the development and implementation of biomolecules, biomaterials, and bioproducts from biorefinery: molecular modeling (MM).
Increased level of pollution worldwide (soil, air and water) calls for urgent action and scalable solutions.
The Kraft pulping process, patented in 1879 and implemented in 1890, has shown resilience for more than 100 years, as it provides higher pulp strength and allows for about 98% of chemicals recovery cycle and energy efficiency.
View the list of FPInnovations’ most recent reports, publications, and recordings, as well as other items recently made available through the research library.
If you are an engineer, student, manager, or supplier looking to learn more about the pulp and paper industry, then don’t forget to register for FPInnovations’ popular Pulp, Paper, and Bioproducts Course which is taking place from October 16 to 20.
An innovative solution to enhance economic efficiency of projects in Northern Québec
This will be my last blog as executive director of PPEC, the environmental council I have run for the past 30 years. Yes, 30 years. Unbelievable how time marches on, isn’t it?
What is it about pizza boxes that they always seem to get singled out for special mention? Is it the guilt we feel at scoffing down all that cheese and pepperoni?
Green visions, aspirational goals, and political grandstanding are all very well in their place. But at some point, we have to be realistic.
Most of the world’s wood chip trade is that of hardwood chips in the Pacific Rim. In 2022, the global wood chip trade accounted for about 42 million bdmt, of which about two-thirds were hardwood chips destined for pulpmills in China and Japan.
As late as 2019, China imported almost 100 million m3 rwe (roundwood equivalents) of softwood logs and lumber to meet the growing demand for forest products in the domestic market.
The two largest log-trading regions in Europe are Central Europe (where Austria, Czech Republic, and Germany are the major importers) and Northern Europe (Finland and Sweden are the two log-importing countries).
Derek Nighbor, President and CEO, FPAC
Earlier today in Ottawa, Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) President and CEO, Derek Nighbor, issued the following statement.
It will be a summer to remember for 15 students who have been announced as winners of Forest Products Association of Canada’s (FPAC) 2023 Green Dream Internship Program.
Earlier today in Vancouver, the federal government released its long-awaited National Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan.
Planar microwave moisture measurement, since its inception in 2000, continues to develop sophisticated instrumentation tools which greatly expand the utility of the technology into an ever-expanding range of papermaking applications.
Introduction
As early as 2016, studies were introduced that showed numerous process control benefits that can be realized on paper machines equipped with the EasyScan traversing permeability, water content, and temperature measurement capabilities.
Introduction
In the day-to-day operation of paper machines, little thought is typically applied to carrier rope runs until something changes that affects downtime related to sheet transfers and/or rope replacement.
A large-scale pilot plant at Resolute’s Thunder Bay mill will further develop FPInnovations’ patented process to produce “2G” sugars and hydrolysis lignin (H-lignin) using mechanical refining, mild chemical treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis.
Some companies have latched on to this visualization technology to make at-the-scene maintenance more time-effective and sure. Integration with the Industrial Internet (IoT) is essential to achieve it's full value potential.
Stora Enso and BillerudKorsnäs announce plans to phase in microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) in paperboard products. Lightweight milk cartons with Stora Enso MFC are already market tested.
